Chapter 35: Scavenging

Tom and Darren were back to looking at each other through the windshields of their respective rovers. Tom reflected on how being a pioneer on the infinite frontier of space seemed to involve a tremendous amount of waiting and boredom. The boredom was punctuated by short interludes of either frantic activity, sheer terror, or both. Now the task before them was to get the main reactor back online before auxiliary power ran out in the colony and everyone slowly suffocated and froze to death. At least the rovers had heat, light and air. Tom worried about Daria.

The arc flash had done some serious damage to important wiring. Fortunately, the transformers were alright. Still, that meant for the past 18 hours Tom and Darren had taken two maintenance crews to everything from hooches to atmospheric water condensers to find sufficiently stout wiring and circuit breakers to replace what had burned up in the arc flash. Now all they could do was sit and watch as the crews tried to install it.

Daria walked toward Mia's office. The corridors really looked eerie. The appearance was almost like some late 20th century science fiction movie. Hopefully some monster wouldn't jump out and eat her! Only the most essential lighting was on. She could hear the quiet hum of the air circulation system again. But she knew that the carbon dioxide scrubbers were on their lowest possible setting and the heat in the habitat was off. The only places getting heat were the agricultural domes so that their food supply didn't die! Inside the habitat the temperature was down about 2 degrees. Daria would soon be looking around her closet for a sweater to make another layer of clothing. She was not used to being cold here.

35.2

Dr. Gupta looked around her medical department. It was mostly quiet now. Only three beds were occupied. One by Luigi, one by Erwin, who had hit his head hard in a fall, and one by Kazira. It had been a challenge working on a non-human patient. Dr. Gupta felt a sense of accomplishment. Kazira's broken arm was properly set. She had no internal bleeding from hitting the wall. And they were able to alleviate her pain with human medicine. Thank goodness her colleagues were able to pool their knowledge of chemistry, biochemistry and medicine to recognize that morphine would work for Kazira! It was finally time for Dr. Gupta to take a break. Dr. Siddig would be back in half an hour to relieve her.

35.3

Mia was contemplating all that had gone on in the past few days. She wound up reminiscing - even wishing - for the simpler days when they just did science, raised crops, and maintained the habitat. Back then they had all the resources they needed. They didn't have to cannibalize some of their systems nor did they have to have the industrial 3D printers working around the clock. Right now, next to not being able to get the power back on, Mia's biggest fear was that one of the industrial printers would fail. That was a reason that at the moment one of the tasks at hand for the fabricators was to print two new printers!

Now their small town of Aries was a military power, owner of some of the greatest technologies man had ever acquired - perhaps comparable to the printing press, and had proved that the answer to the question 'Are we alone' was an emphatic 'No.' The aliens were in fact friendly! Not only friendly, but thankful that the humans had rescued them from their long tragedy. Now if they could just get that darned power on maybe Mars could move forward!

Daria walked in to Mia's office. "Hey boss lady," Daria said jokingly.

Mia half-smiled and also said half-jokingly, "Welcome to my nightmare."

Daria walked over to a chair across from Mia's desk and sat down, "Ready for the interview?"

"Sure," Mia replied. "If you record this by hand rather than on video I'll break out some Martian Moonshine to go with it. I could use a drink about now."

Daria responded in total deadpan, "Far be it from me to turn down a good stiff drink. I could probably use one as well. Besides, I have to make it through this undoubtedly dull interview!"

Both women chuckled as Mia reached into her desk and pulled out a glass flank. She also pulled out a couple of glasses, poured clear liquid into them, and handed one to Daria.

Lifting the glass Mia stated with almost regal flair, "Here's mud in your eye!"

Daria had to wait until she stopped giggling before she could take a sip. "Back at ya! I haven't heard that in a long time!" Taking a sip she felt the raw alcohol burn all the way down her throat. Daria surprised herself that she didn't cough. She asked herself if she was getting used to this stuff. Impossible.

"Of course," Mia said setting her glass back on the desk, "On Mars we don't have mud."

"Not outside one of the agriculture domes anyway," Daria replied with a chuckle. "Oh, and I came prepared. I hunted around my office and my quarters and what did I manage to find? A pad of paper and a pen! So, I can do all of this the old fashioned way - by hand! I just hope that I will be able to read my own writing later."

"So what are you here to interview me about?" Mia asked as she took another sip.

Daria stated, "Procedures require that the archivist, that is me, interview you after any major event in the life of the colony. It goes on record as a key or even the only summary of an event. This interview will be accessible to all researchers regarding the colony and its collective life. Since this is classified it will not be accessible for 50 years. In other words, you and I won't be around to have to worry about it." Both women laughed at Daria's comment. "Since the main power and data are both down at the moment I can certainly justify recording this by hand rather than, say, on my phone."

"Good," Mia replied. "Take another sip and let's start."

Daria took another sip. "Can you walk me through a timeline of what has happened?"

Mia sat and talked spontaneously about the events since the first encounter with the alien base. She emphasized the value of the technologies that Marcipor had brought to them. If they had not encountered the alien ship and revived the remaining aliens, then they would never have known how Marcipor was insidiously infiltrating all of their computer systems and slowly taking over. Marcipor's designs on extending his control to Earth had not even occurred to the colony. The final encounter with Marcipor was difficult both logistically and for the aliens who confronted him. Thankfully, Dr. Gupta was able to treat Kazira and she was healing. Still, her injuries were significant and it would take some time. "I guess it just takes a little longer to heal when you are over 1,000 years old!" Mia quipped. Both women laughed.

Daria read her notes back to Mia. The two women made some minor changes. Just as they finished the main lights in Mia's office came on and they could once again hear the quiet rush of the air handling system.

Mia stood. "It is sure nice to be able to see again! Not to mention that we will not avoid asphyxiation. There is even some warmth in that fresh air as well."

Daria laughed. In total deadpan she remarked, "You sound like me. Been hanging around the librarian too long?"

"I'm glad that we can be friends, Daria. Goodness knows I've needed someone to talk to other than my husband. He is great, but sometimes I just need someone else."

Daria nodded. "The feeling is mutual. I can't tell you how much I will miss our conversations after Tom and I return to Earth."

"Let's see, how many days do you have left?" Mia asked.

"It is 60 days today," Daria said matter-of-factly. "Tomorrow I get more weight on my shoulders, wrists, and ankles."

"That really looks uncomfortable," Mia stated. "Is it?"

"It really isn't so bad," Daria answered. "The main thing is that it is kind of awkward. Still, I don't want to just flatten into a pool of goo when I get back to Earth's gravity. That would really be unpleasant."

"No kidding," Mia said while chuckling. "For me, you leaving will be like a boundary. Before, while you were here, it was just us old people running this place, doing science, and exploring. Once you are gone things will be changing. We have solved the radiation issues and have plenty of data to back up the answers we have found. So, we will start seeing younger people. Certainly some in their thirties. Maybe even in their twenties!"

"Mere whippersnappers!" Daria injected.

"It means that it won't be long until there are children on Mars as well. That will totally change the character of this place!"

Daria injected, "No kidding! Who knows. Maybe the music will change and people will dance something other than slow dances. All that gyrating and no one worrying about breaking a hip!"

Mia had to grab the edge of her desk after that comment by Daria. She was simply laughing too hard. Wiping tears from her eyes she went on, "Good one! That's why I like talking to you. You know, as we fabricate more gravity plating we will increase the gravity in the colony to somewhere near Earth's. No more wearing weights before returning home!"

"True," Daria responded. "Still, it will lessen the experience of having to deal with the lower gravity, except when you are outside."

"That is true as well," Mia said nodding. "Still, the technologies we got from Marcipor are key ones. They will make this colony prosperous, its people healthier, and much much more accessible. I just wonder how long we will be able to keep ahold of our technologies before people from Earth steal them."

"Thieving Earthlings!" Daria quipped in her deadpan.

The two women laughed again as Daria gathered her things and headed for the door.

35.4

Daria looked at the screen in her office and started, "So, Jane, this will probably be my last video letter to you from Mars. I have just under two months left and there is so much left to do before leaving. I need to finish my archiving and other work as librarian, so that my successor is not left with a mess. Thank goodness our big power outage did not damage any of my systems."

"The power outage happened when there was what is called an 'arc flash' while the technicians were installing expanded panels to provide more electricity for our equipment. It burned up a bunch of wiring, but did not hurt the nuclear reactor - than goodness. Since everything on Mars is in short supply, people were looking everywhere for replacement parts or at least parts which could be replacements. We were all working under limited emergency power, which meant minimal lighting in the habitats and minimal life support. Therefore, the air started getting a little stuffy after several hours. Still we managed to come up with enough parts to fix the problem."

"Tom was one of the rover drivers that saw the arc flash. He transported the injured to the medical bay. His quick reaction probably saved the life of one of the crew."

"You asked what Tom and I were going to do when we get back. I wish I had a better feel for that. I don't know that Lawndale really has a lot of draw for us anymore. So, the question becomes where to retire. Neither of us is a fan of Florida. The big cities have so much to do, but are crowded, noisy, and expensive. Small towns are not stimulating enough for us, though maybe the right college town. We will probably settle somewhere near at least one of the kids. We aren't getting any younger and at some point we will need some help doing things and getting around. And who knows how this stint on Mars will affect us long term physically once we are back on Earth! I think that the short term plan will be to park with one of the kids for a few months. Together we can figure out what to do. This is kind of weird for us, since we have always seemed to have had a clear plan and new where we were going."

"Tom and I look forward to seeing you when we get back. You two are on our visiting priority list just after the kids. Meanwhile, take care and we will keep you updated after we return. I have really missed you, Jane, while being out here. These video letters just are not the same as a conversation. See you soon!"

Daria hit the Submit/Post button on her screen. This sent the letter off to Jane.